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I'm not sure that 'disgusting' is merited. Sure, if she's posing for the cameras and using her son's volunteer status as a political weapon, it makes me a bit uncomfortable for her. But surely you wouldn't consider that any more 'disgusting' than if she was following Senator Durbin around and asking why those her son is fighting on the battlefield are quoting his words about the troops against him on Al-Jezeera, is it? And I can't imagine that she'd come after and ask the same questions she'd already asked just to help a political opponent get camera footage - and you really shouldn't just jump to that conclusion and call her disgusting.

Actually, if he is a senate candidate then that means he is not running for re-election, right? What does she expect from him?

Is she a truly independent voter just concerned about her son,or politically backing Menendez and doing a hit job...making it look like he callously won't talk to the poor,totally apolitical,totally agenda-less constituent with pure motivations...political advocacy pieces show what the advocate wants to show.I sympathize with anyone who has children in Iraq currently serving,or in the services who could be called to serve.This war has been horribly run and looks like the light will never emerge from the tunnel,i wouldn't blame a deeply concerned parent from voicing frustrations and demanding honest answers.but is she acting to the cameras here,as it appears?Hit pieces ,from Republicans or Democrats,are really what's disgusting about politics today.

In truth,the worst thing about Kean,which has raised doubts in me about his intentions,is his organization's attempts,mostly from laughably incredible sources,to directly tie Menendez to corruption and cronyism.New Jersey has seen lots of stinking corruption from its Democrats for many political generations,but Menendez is pretty clean in terms of personal taint...it's a shame Kean has chosen to enter the muck and throw mud so shamelessly.

If the woman had an agenda remains unclear. What is clear is that her son is serving in Iraq. If she wants to rant and rave to a politician in favor of that war then that politician ought to suck it up and permit her that right.

The last thing you would ever want to do is turn your back on a woman whose son is serving your country. She obviously instilled certain values in him to inspire him to volunteer for service. If she is worried for his well-being then she should have an opportunity to vent that frustration.

If politicians continue to support this war then they damn well need to be prepared to defend that position, and that includes permitting mothers the right to vent.

Now, what if he had met with her and he took whatever tongue-lashing she might have given him. Had he empathized with her and treated her with dignity then he would have been the bigger person, and she would have looked like the mad one.

But to so coldly turn your back on her as he did is just reprehensible. Makes me wonder just how responsive he will be to his constituents.

Amazingly, Tom Kean Junior's ability to disrespect our military literally knows no bounds. First, he refused to answer questions from Military Families Speak Out (MFSO) but said he'd give them written answers. Then he said he wasn't going to answer because that group was never going to vote for him anyway. Now, we have this clip of Junior doing what he does best.

Yes, that's NJGOP Senatorial hope-ful Thomas Kean, Junior running away like a little girl whose Barbie doll just got eaten by a pit bull. But it isn't his opponent that strikes such fear in Baby Kean - it's a mom who doesn't like being ignored or lied to.

You're absolutely right on that one,Snapcat..perhaps it is best for the Dems to hold this seat.I still don't know what the context was driven by,but it doesn't really matter here.Tom Kean,Jr. is so far from his father in demeanor,it's dismaying.He should have stayed and attempted to make a honest effort to speak to the mother's concerns and not let a flak shoo her away.no portrait in courage here,I hope the tide turns quickly against him.Between these instances and his laughable attempts to have his operatives get all kinds of corruption dirt on Menendez,without checking on the credibility of their sources who were so far off the mark or self-serving political rivals trying to puff themselves up ,Kean doesn't have the honor and character to serve,I must regrettably conclude.My vote will go to Menendez for the Senate.

Now, what if he had met with her and he took whatever tongue-lashing she might have given him. Had he empathized with her and treated her with dignity then he would have been the bigger person, and she would have looked like the mad one.

Snaps, since the gentlemen in the video says he's already met with her, do you have a number of times that he should talk to her? If the camera is there because it's a set-up to gather exactly the kind of video that you see clipped in here, does it make any difference? If so, do you think that the information that you've presented here is likely to represent the complete story?

Here's the backstory on this, Snaps, from the Menendez site, even. While you may agree with his declining the answers, the woman in the video is part of an active political effort against Kean, not some random concerned mother who is unaware of his positions. You might note that Kean disagrees with the Bush administration on a number of issues related to Iraq, and has called for Rumsfeld's resignation.

Just to make sure that you get a feel for the nature of the approach of the group in question, here's a few links from the group:

If I lived in NJ, I would vote for Kean. NJ has become the world's joke under Democrat rule.

I would have,too...but he has really disappointed me lately,and set up or not(and I believe it was)he played right into the Dem left's hands and looked real bad and shifty in this incident.I don't like it,but his overall conduct in the race has soured me on him,and I think the Republicans need a little humility.But I know full well that corruption in New jersey =Democrat by far!

Why, with those kinds of questions as your criteria - if you were a Tennessean, you'd end up with Harold Ford, Jr. as your Senator. (Current seat held by an immediate family member for 32 years...now the little brother is running.)

If I lived in NJ, I would vote for Kean. NJ has become the world's joke under Democrat rule.

Yeah... that makes sense. Because even if we were to go by your premise that NJ has indeed become 'the world's joke' , since Kean is running for a *federal office*, voting for him to undo the 'Democrat rule' would make sense since it would have no impact on the 'Democrat [Democratic, thanks much] rule' that it has allegedly become 'the world's joke' under. Besides, we *ALL* know that america hasn't become *literally* the world's joke under Republican rule... NOSIREEE!!!

It's amusing to see people make such declarations about NJ... a few years back I was visiting a hostel very near NJ, and someone from Oz was actually under the impression that NJ was actually the fifth boro of NY, in lieu of Staten Island (and this was when it *wasn't* under Dem rule and hadn't been for some time, so don't try to go anywhere with that cheap opportunistic bullshit). I don't think people even know NJ well enough to declear it 'the world's joke'.

LOL, it's amusing to see just where out of the woodwork all these partisans declaring NJ becoming a 'joke' come from!

Luckily, here in the Garden State, we know better than to fall for the Party line.

We don't want and won't accept the next generation of the Kean Family or any other dysfunctional Republican Dynasty-wanna-be.

We expect our elected officials to have actual qualifications.

We don't just ask "Who's Your Daddy" and "What's Your Frat?"

P.S. How is that JEB!2008 campaign coming???
Or is it LAURA!2012???

Hear, hear! As a fellow NJian, let me second. New Jersey is proudly the MOST DEMOCRATIC STATE IN THE NATION, and every year the pundits try to declare the race 'competitive', and people have to go along with it, so that the conservatives won't declare their 'victimhood' against the establishment and get the other conservatives joining and fooling the independents. But we all know that, in the end, Dems will win in NJ's statewide races, and will for some time to come, thanks to our friend Mr. Bush who is *EXTREMELY UNPOPULAR* in this state.

It was amusing seeing pathetic 'Corzine can't buy my vote', when the Republicans have been buying votes for Congress for the past 16 years. This time around, they had to pay nearly $8 million FOR ONE DAY'S WORTH OF EXPENSES ALONE. Hypocrisy is no stranger to the GOP, of course...

And as for the thing brought up above, that is why we knew that even though Republican pollster Rasmussen, which sadly originates here in NJ, tried to make it seem like Kean ever had a shot, that come election day, he would LOSE!

Why, with those kinds of questions as your criteria - if you were a Tennessean, you'd end up with Harold Ford, Jr. as your Senator. (Current seat held by an immediate family member for 32 years...now the little brother is running.)

Maltese - I'm just a Jersey boy.
I know nothing about Tennessee, Harold Ford, his qualifications or lack of - so I will abstain...

However - please don't think that I only loathe those old money Republican Families who would like to become the new American Royalty.
I'm not a fan of Democratic Family Dynasties, either.
The last Kennedy I liked was Bobby.
I like Bill Clinton, I like Senator (NOT Presidential Candidate) Hillary, but I wouldn't vote for Chelsea if she were running for town dogcatcher - just on general principles...
Amy Carter for President??? I think not...

"For your benefit, learn from our tragedy. It is not a written law that the next victims must be Jews."

Maltese, we still don't know that Kean answered any of her questions in any other meeting. She says he didn't answer her questions. He could have put that issue to rest by not dodging her when the cameras were rolling.

I think it's important to consider one other thing. Many of these anti-war mothers of soldiers haven't always been that way. In all likelihood they probably supported the war initially, and may have modified their opinion as they have followed everything. And most likely they are following certain points far closer than you or I because they have a son or daughter serving.

I still say that if a politician believes in the war then they need to be able to defend that point.

New Jersey is the most corrupt state in the country, and anyone who thinks otherwise is an idiot. Look at how Sen. Frank Lautenberg came back in office: Bob Torcelli was the most corrupt senator of all time and was heading toward an election lost so the NJ supreme court allowed Lautenberg to take Tor's place on the ballott 3 weeks before the election!

State Senator Wayne Bryant is facing criminal charges for have many "no show/high paying" jobs for himself and his relatives. Former State Senator John Lynch is going to jail for major corruption. Former Gov. McGreevey had dozens of his buddies on the state payroll and created a corrupt administration then left under the guise of being "a gay American," and left the state with millions of dollars of bills for his personal expenses.
And that's just the tip of the iceberg. NJ voters are stupid. That could also be why property taxes are so high there. People complain about their taxes but keep voting the monster machine back in office. Go figure!

Well, by now you've read that Snapcat has said that what 'CharLie' said is considered a violation of the JUB Terms of Service. Having said that, far be it from me to stop your hurting stomach from preventing you from following along this thread, in future.

Having said that, it usually takes a Republican operative to go and cross that line, violating terms of service... or violating the law...